This invention relates to improved power driven portable sanders or other abrading tools.
The tools of the invention are of a general type including a body to be held and be manipulated by a user, a motor carried by the body, and a sanding pad or other unit mounted to the body for movement relative thereto by the motor to abrade a work surface. The movable unit contains a passage or passages through which a flow of air and particles abraded from the work surface are drawn by suction from a location near that work surface to a collection location. The movable unit may include a resiliently deformable cushion adapted to carry a sheet of sandpaper at its underside, and having a backing plate more rigid than the cushion at the upper side of the cushion.
One problem which has been encountered with tools of this type in the past has resided in their tendency in some instances to develop an excessive amount of suction at the work surface, acting to pull the movable unit and sandpaper too tightly against the work surface and thus restrict the freedom of movement of the tool over that surface and slow the overall sanding operation. An adjustable flow restricting element has been provided in the main body of the tool for regulating the flow of air through the device, but this expedient has proven less effective than would be desired.